Help HN: I'm a young Alaskan entrepreneur down in the Bay Area. Tips?
Long time lurker on HN, with little karma (I read, don't post).
I will be in/around the Bay Area (SF down to San Jose) through the end of March. Combination of Airbnb, staying at friends places, etc. I'm currently in Palo Alto.
Our company serves advertising agencies by converting Photoshop Documents to HTML (PSD to HTML, nothing revolutionary). See: www.SnobbySlice.com
We're angel funded by a group of Alaskan Businessmen that inclue the dean of the business school, entrepreneurship professor, business owners, and other local prominent mentors. You can read more about them here: http://tylersystems.com/our-investors/
Our angel round was small (Y-Combinator style), and is more about mentorship and learning versus returns and profitability. Our investors have brought leads and knowledge of business, teaching me most of what I know today.
Our business allows me to work with designers, developers, and like-minded geeks every day. It lets me travel to meet our clients and interesting startups all around the world.
I was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska (no, not a Sarah Palin fan), and this is my first time in the Bay Area. If any of you have suggestions for things to do, places to crash, startups to visit, I'm all ears!
The idea of being within walking distance of Stanford and startups in Palo Alto is truly mind blowing to me. It's still weird to be within reach of these prestigious institutions/companies that seem so distant in Alaska.
Thanks in advance for any feedback! Email: tyler at tylersystems dawt com. Phone: +1 907.227.9541